Soared vs. Sword

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Grammarist

Soared and sword are two words that are pronounced in the same fashion but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the definitions of soared and sword, where these two words came from and some examples of their use in sentences.

Soared is the past tense of the word soar, which means to fly high, to rise into the air, to glide on air currents. Soar is an intransitive verb, which is a verb that does not take an object. Soar may also be used as a noun to refer to the act of soaring, related words are soars, soared, soaring, soarer, soaringly. The word soar appears in the fourteenth century, from the Old French essorer meaning fly up, soar.

A sword is a weapon that consists of a long blade made out of metal and a handle. Swords were once used for personal defense and battle. Today, swords are mostly ceremonial and used to denote authority. The word sword may also be used figuratively to mean violence or destruction. The word sword is derived from the Old English word sweord.

Examples

The number of vacancies in the NHS has soared by 15.8% over the last year, prompting warnings that the service is facing “desperate” problems of understaffing. (The Guardian)

The ball soared through the air, fans packed in the Clay County gym, and Cox knew even before the ball dropped through the rim that he’d remember this moment for the rest of his life. (Elizabethtown News Enterprise)

The sword will be put on display at the society’s headquarters in Boston on July 18, more than 150 years after Shaw died as he led the regiment into battle at Fort Wagner, near Charleston, S.C. (The Boston Globe)